It is important that we maintain and protect the beautiful buildings of the past, even if it is expensive for countries to do so. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Sample Response
Many old buildings have historical significancecontain historic significance and preserving important ones is necessary. However, protecting every old structure just for aesthetic reasons is not practical, especially at a time when the housing crisis is worseningsoaring all around the world. This essay explains why I believe that protecting and conserving all beautiful old buildingsold beautiful buildings is a burden for a nation.
The global population has reached a staggering 8 billionreached a staggeringly high of 8 billion which was just 2 billion a century ago. With this dramatic rise in population, the housing problem has intensified and if old buildings are not replaced byold buildings do not make space for tall, modern and more space-efficient structuresmore frugal structures, we will soon be destroying all of our farmlands and forests to make new houses. This will lead to a disastrous situation as we are already losingwe already are losing agricultural landlands and forests at an alarming rate. Modern buildings are meant to accommodate a large number of people, sometimes a modern skyscraper can accommodate thousands of people while most ancient structures were built to accommodate at most one large familyat best a large family. These buildings were designed in the last centuryThe designs were made in the last century when space was abundant. This is no longer practical at all to preserve those old buildings just because they are lovely to look at.
Moreover, maintaining and preserving old structures requires a large sum of money. They were built using traditional materials and techniques, and this is why renovatingthis is why, renovating them requires substantial labour and fundingintensive labour and money. On top of that, each government has a list of historically significant buildings and structures that it actively preservesthat they vigorously preserve and renovate. Authorities are not simply going to demolishThe authority is not going to just demolish structures like the Taj Mahal or the Acropolis of Athens, and their preservation will receive funding and effortthey are going to get budget and effort no matter what. Including all old buildingsNow including all old buildings in this must-preserve list is going to be a colossal burden if not an impossible undertakingact.
In conclusion, old and gorgeous-looking buildings that are a century oldbuildings that are century old should be replaced by modern and space-efficientfrugal buildings while significantly important historic buildings should be preserved. This way we will keephave the housing crisis in check while also preserving important history.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response’s strongest feature is its clear, qualified position that historically important buildings deserve protection while purely aesthetic structures may yield to housing needs, supported by two distinct reasons. Its main limitation is that some housing claims are overly absolute and several phrases are awkward or imprecise. The highest-priority improvement is to qualify the redevelopment argument with more realistic distinctions and edit collocations and sentence boundaries for greater precision.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response presents a clear nuanced position and develops relevant arguments concerning land use, housing capacity, preservation costs, and historic value.
Acknowledge that redevelopment is not always possible or desirable and explain how countries could decide which buildings merit protection.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, two reason-based body paragraphs, and conclusion form a clear logical progression with generally effective cohesion.
Improve flow within the housing paragraph by separating its long chain of consequences into more clearly staged steps.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary range is sufficient for heritage, urban development, cost, and population pressure, but several collocations are inaccurate or overstated.
Replace phrases such as “contain historic significance,” “space-frugal buildings,” and “get budget and effort” with natural academic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures with generally clear meaning, though comma splices, agreement issues, and awkward noun phrases recur.
Check sentence boundaries and noun agreement, especially in long comparisons and phrases describing old buildings.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
It is important that we maintain and protect the beautiful buildings of the past, even if it is expensive for countries to do so. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.